The Sunflower House is the first place Allina finally feels safe in a world that has next to no safe places for a person from her family tree. Oddly enough it is the home of an officer of her sworn yet secret enemy.

This is a WWII story that reveals the inner workings of the Lebensborn baby farms Himmler established and maintained throughout the Nazi effort to build up the thousand-year reich for which Hitler had in his best outcome bucket list. Difficult to read and realize (I hadn't fully known of this diabolical program). Thinking of all the living victims of this horror.

Kudos to Adriana Allegri for this well-researched, well-written story. My thoughts keep returning to trapped heroes like Karl and Allina, and those thousands abused children - although they are fictional, they surely represent the non-fiction victims of that terrible time.

Recommended - but beware there are many horrors that may trigger in this read. Know your limits and take care.

*A sincere thank you to Adriana Allegri, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*

Wow, this heartbreaking tale opened my eyes to some of the horrors that happened during WWII. The story was interesting and kept me very engaged. It is incredibly well-researched and documented. I really enjoyed the love aspect of the story. It is so incredibly difficult to read about children that were abused and women that didn’t know better. It’s interesting how terrible the German people were treated by their own. The strength and courage that was displayed by the main character is inspirational. I can't wait to read more by Adrianna Allegri.

The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri is a very much recommended book by me. It’s such a well written Historical Fiction there was wonderful research done to make this so beautiful. I devoured this book and had not heard about the Hochland Home or Lederhosen Program. I enjoyed the two timelines and the resilience of those that went through these horrific times.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I wasn’t expecting to have such a visceral reaction to this book. I have read many books set during WWII. I feel like I have become slightly jaded when it comes to the horrors that so many people endured. Not that they still don’t touch me emotionally but they usually don’t trigger me in such a way that I think about them days/weeks later.

The descriptions of these poor babies in this facility was so heartbreaking. Maybe I was so distraught by it due to the fact that my daughter was only a couple of months old at the time. Postpartum hormones were raging. Though I think this book will still impact readers who are not sleep deprived, weepy messes as well.

I had never heard of this kind of facility before reading this story. I was surprised that there are still things that went on during this war that I’m just now discovering. I think I would like to read a nonfiction account of this to dive deeper into the politics of it all.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Historical fiction is probably my favorite genre and so have read many WWII stories. However, this book is about the Lebensborn program which was intended to repopulate Germany with Aryans to replace men lost in the war. The author excellently researches in her writing as she tells the story through the eyes of the main character who ends up in one of these birthing houses and ultimately learns a secret about her own past. I enjoyed the storyline and particularly enjoyed the addition of romance. It is well told and informative that kept me page turning. The characters are complex and likeable. Overall, I found it moving, entertaining and thought provoking. I would definitely recommend this book and will continue to look for more from this author.

The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri is a stunning tale set in WWII, Germany. At the heart of the novel is Allina Strauss, a young woman living an idyllic life in a small German village. Her world shatters when she discovers her Jewish heritage. Forced into a notorious Lebensborn home designed to breed children for the Reich, Allina struggles between survival and helping others trapped in the system.

Karl von Strassberg, an SS officer with hidden loyalties, becomes her unlikely ally. Their sacrificial and unforgettable romance is a small bright spot in a dark reality, proving love can endure hopeless times.

The story unfolds through multiple timelines, including 2006, when Allina’s daughter Katrine discovers a swastika-marked box revealing her mother's past. This structure heightens suspense and sheds light on Allina’s brave choices and Karl’s covert work. While Allegri does not shy from the brutalities of the Nazi regime, hope and resilience shine on every page.

I highly recommend The Sunflower House. Allegri portrays Allina’s journey with empathy, realism, and authenticity. This remarkable debut illuminates history’s darkest corners with a steady undercurrent of hope. Five stars—I can’t recommend it enough.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a complimentary review copy. The opinions are my own.

Special thank you to NetGalley, Adriana Allegri and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this incredible historical fiction.

This book is hands-down a must read for those who love historical fiction. The dedication and research that the author put into this novel is evident from start to finish. The story weaves history, love, grief, betrayal and will have you feeling all the feels. Easily a 5-star read. Strongly recommend.

Wow! I love this historical novel about perseverance, love, and an overwhelming desire to affect change. Allina learns of the Lebensborn program in Nazi Germany and is appalled at how the infants and young children are being raised in order to indoctrinate them and bring out the qualities they want to see in future Nazi leaders. Infants and toddlers who never know the touch of a loved one, living in sterility, and unable to engage in something as simple as playing with others. She meets Karl while there and together they formulate a plan to do better for the children, and to hopefully change the course of their future.
Wonderful writing that has the ability to not only engage the reader, but to evoke strong emotions. I was enthralled!

For fans of Historical Fiction, this did not disappoint. "Family secrets come to light as a young woman fights to save herself, and others, in a Nazi-run baby factory—a real-life Handmaid's Tale—during World War II."

The Sunflower House is a meticulously researched historical novel that uncovers the notorious Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. A tale of one woman's determination to resist and survive, this is also a love story. You get all the feels in this book. Love and loss, friendship, betrayal, and lots of secrets.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

I absolutely loved The Sunflower House. As a fan of WWII historical fiction, I found this novel incredibly compelling and unique. I hadn’t read about the Lebensborn Program before, and the detailed look into this dark aspect of history was both fascinating and heartbreaking. Allina’s courage and determination, paired with the tense and poignant love story, kept me hooked from start to finish. This is a beautifully written tale of resistance, survival, and the strength to protect the most vulnerable in the face of unimaginable horrors. A solid 4+ stars!

This book is a meticulously-researched piece of historical fiction that uncovers the notorious Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. Women of “pure” blood stayed in Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of perpetuating the Aryan population, giving birth to thousands of babies who were adopted out to “good” Nazi families.
Allina Strauss in 1939, has been living in a small village in Germany with family members. When most of her village is wiped out by German soldiers looking for traitors to the party.
She is seen by a high ranking Nazi Official who thought she would be a perfect fit for the Lebensborn program.
What they don't know it that she has Jewish blood in her family, making her a Mischling, not the pure Aryan woman as they thought.
I had never heard of this program, so to hear how it was run and how they treated the children was an eye opener.
Allina does find a way to be able to help some of the children, and with an unlikely source be able to get Jewish children out of the country. Definitely an eye opening read.
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for a copy of this story.

4.5 stars. A must read for readers of WWII historical fiction. This focuses on a young woman torn from her family, ending up in the Lebensborn Program. Not as one of the women living in that baby factory to birth Arian babies for the appeasement of Hitler and Himmler, but as a nurse taking care of the newborns. She and a love interest / SS officer attempt to help the older children who were never adopted because of some imperfection or another. It's obvious that the older those children got, the more anti-social and mentally damaged they became, and the couple make plans to smuggle out a small percentage of them -- anything to keep Himmler from getting his evil hands on them.

An engaging, heartfelt story with characters I cared about. St. Martins Publishing Group comped me an advanced copy on NetGalley. I supplemented the read with the audiobook. The three narrators did an excellent job.

So suspenseful, I could not put this down. The debut novel of Adriana Allegri was everything a reader could ask for, secrets, love, fear, family in a historical fiction setting. Allina Strauss is a young woman being raised by her aunt and uncle in a small German village in 1938 until the war reaches them in an unbelievable event. Allina's life changes in an instant. A heartwarming and at times a tearful read, the author spins such a deep story of Allina and how she becomes involved in Hitler's baby factory or Lebensborn. There she meets a SS officer, Karl von Strassberg and together they discover how to trust each other. Secrets are revealed and they dig into your soul. I look forward to reading more from this author. A huge thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this wonderful book.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital arc.
Hitler and his cronies thrust many evil programs on Europe, but the Lebensborn homes,which promoted eugenics, is less know. A mother tells her daughter the truth about her father and the work they conspired to do in order to save as many Jewish children as possible from the death camps and to save the babies in the Lebensborn program from experimentation. The story focuses on Allina, a German woman caught in the violence wrought on her village and family, and Karl, a high ranking SS officer. As the story unfolds it becomes obvious they are kindred spirits in more ways than one. Fast paced plot which uses the very real Hochland Home as the primary setting. Some characters that will make your skin crawl, while others may warrant a hug. One can make many comparisons to the racist environment currently enveloping many countries. Let's hope there are still a few righteous among us.

If you like reading historic fiction novels then this is for you. It sucks you in and pulls on your heart. You meet Allina who is cruelly kidnapped and olaced into the Lebensborn program.

This is a beautifully written book about a very ugly time in history. It is a love story and what you do to protect the ones you love and the sacrifice you make to do what is right. The story about the main characters may be fiction, but there is a lot of truth about the subject matter and who some of the people were. What a debut! If historical fiction is your genre do not miss this one! Bravo to Adriana Allegri and I will look forward to more books by this author. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri is a hauntingly beautiful and well-written exploration of a lesser-known aspect of the Holocaust. It follows the story of Alina Strauss, a young woman with a significant secret: her mother was Jewish. To survive, she had to keep this secret concealed. Alina is sent to Hochland Home, where young Aryan women are sent to bear children with SS soldiers to increase the number of children with “pure blood” in Germany. The horrors she witnessed and endured are beyond appalling and should never be experienced by anyone. This is Adriana Allegra’s debut historical fiction novel, and I will definitely be seeking out more of her works in the future.

An historical fiction based on factual events during WWII and the Nazi occupation. A young woman's life is severely tramatized, eventually landing at Hochland Home, a home for "pure" Germans to give birth to a future generation of Nazis. Allina has lost her home and her family, she must now give care to these children that were bred like puppies. The horror she will face as she does her best to care for the children and stay alive is told so dramatically, you can see, hear and smell the terrifying conditions she bravely faces.
The story is enoughh to stir every one of your emotions. The fact that it is based on realities faced in the not so far distant times, makes it doubly so. This history must be shared so it is never repeated.

This book provides a new take on WWII historical fiction, in focusing on the sobering story of the ss Lebensborn program, which was part of Heinrich himmler's eugenics program. I had previously heard of eugenics, but I had no idea there were actual facilities set up all over Germany before and during WWII where Aryan women were sent for the sole purpose of bearing as many Aryan children as possible. These homes hosted visits from SS soldiers, with the goal of producing as many future soldiers for Hitler's armies as possible. Most of the babies born to these homes would be adopted out to Nazi couples, while others who failed to thrive were mysteriously sent away.

The Sunflower House is the story of a young girl, Allina, who has lost everything she knew (loving adoptive grandparents, her hometown, friends, and beloved fiance) shortly after discovering she descends from a Jewish mother. After soldiers had massacred most of her neighbors, friends and grandmother she is sent to a Lebensborn home where she will work as a nurse and caretaker for the mothers and children there.
As the story unfolds, she attempts to heal from her trauma and is tempted to trust in love yet again.
Can she allow herself to fall in love with the kindhearted SS soldier who seems anything but the brutal, domineering man she at first assumed he was? Will she make it out of the war safe and alive? What will become of the children at the home?

This novel had me unable to put it down, and is full of twists and turns along the way. It is a heavy read, and isn't a lighthearted tale by any means, but that doesn't mean the book is devoid of hope.
Trigger warnings: rape, death, war brutality, genocide, abuse.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Allina Strauss’s life seems idyllic: she works at her uncle’s bookshop, makes strudel with her aunt, and spends weekends with her friends and fiancé. But it's 1939,and Adolf Hitler is Chancellor, and Allina’s discovers a terrifying secret—her birth mother was Jewish, making her a Mischling. One fateful night after losing everyone she loves, Allina is forced into service as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home. There, she becomes both witness and participant to the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program.

The Sunflower House is a meticulously-researched debut historical novel that uncovers the notorious Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. Women of “pure” blood stayed in Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of perpetuating the Aryan population, giving birth to thousands of babies who were adopted out to “good” Nazi families. Allina must keep her Jewish identity a secret in order to survive, but when she discovers the neglect occurring within the home, she’s determined not only to save herself, but also the children in her care.

A story of one woman’s determination to resist and survive, The Sunflower House is also a love story. When Allina meets Karl, a high-ranking SS officer with secrets of his own, the two must decide how much they are willing to share with each other—and how much they can stand to risk as they join forces to save as many children as they can.

This is such a well-written book that it is hard to believe that it is a debut novel. It is apparent that the author did a lot of research into the Lebensborn Program. Although it is fiction, the author notes that much of it is based on fact. I had read another book on these "homes" but this one is the best one I have read with much more detail of what actually went on in these homes. Thank you to NetGalley for introducing me to this author. I hope she writes more books and will be on the lookout for them. I highly recommend.